Romance Languages and Literatures
Overview
The Department of Romance Languages and Literatures offers courses in Francophone studies, Hispanic studies, and Italian studies. In addition to focusing on developing students’ fluency in the languages, the department provides students with a broad understanding of the cultures, thought, and literatures of the French-speaking, Italian-speaking, and Spanish-speaking worlds through a curriculum that prepares students for international work, teaching, or graduate study. Native speakers are involved in most language courses. Unless otherwise indicated, all courses are conducted in the respective languages.
Learning Goals
Majors and non-majors will be able to:
- Accurately and effectively use French, Italian, and/or Spanish for interpersonal (dialogues), interpretive (reading, listening), and presentational (writing, speaking) modes of communication, ranging in complexity from everyday interaction to abstract, educated discourse in both oral and written forms (1101–2305).
- Demonstrate critical understanding of Francophone, Hispanic, and/or Italian cultural productions through the discussion and critique of literary, artistic, historical, and sociological works of various authors, genres, periods, and regions (2400–3000).
- Identify and describe widely recognized intellectual and cultural movements throughout the history of Francophone, Hispanic, and/or Italian societies.
- Explain fundamental concepts for, and contrast diverse approaches to, the scholarly study of literature, film, and cultural production (2400–3000).
- Conduct analytical research in Francophone, Hispanic, and/or Italian studies, and present it with scholarly rigor, in written or oral form, using the methods specific to such disciplines (Independent Studies, 2970-2999 and 4000-4049; Honors Projects, 4050 and 4051).
Options for Majoring or Minoring in the Department
Students may elect to major in Francophone studies, Hispanic studies, Italian studies, or romance languages and literatures or to coordinate a major in Francophone studies, Hispanic studies, Italian studies, or romance languages and literatures with digital and computational studies, education, or environmental studies. Students pursuing coordinate majors may not normally elect a second major. Non-majors may elect to minor in Francophone studies, Hispanic studies, or Italian studies.
Hanétha Vété-Congolo, Department Chair
Kate Flaherty, Department Coordinator
Professors: Nadia Celis (Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies), Elena Cueto Asín, Gustavo Faveron Patriau‡, Hanétha Vété-Congolo
Associate Professors: Meryem Belkaïd‡, Margaret Boyle (Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies), Allison A. Cooper (Cinema Studies), Charlotte Daniels, Katherine L. Dauge-Roth, Carolyn Wolfenzon Niego
Assistant Professors: Sebastian D. Urli
Senior Lecturers: Davida Gavioli, Anna Rein
Lecturer: Christian Puma Ninacuri
Visiting Faculty: Madeline Bedecarre
Adjunct Lecturer: Ian Andrew MacDonald (fall semester)
Language Fellows: Amelie Brochon, Anny Catalina Vergara Gomez, Judith Cober Andreau, Louise Lamill, Alessia Marino
Majors in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
Students may declare a major in Francophone studies, Hispanic studies, Italian studies, or in romance languages and literatures (with a concentration in two of the three areas: Francophone studies, Hispanic studies, and Italian studies). All majors are expected to achieve breadth in their knowledge of the French-, Italian-, and/or Spanish-speaking worlds by taking courses on the literatures and cultures of these areas across all genres from the medieval period to the present, including at the 3000 level. Students should also take complementary courses in study-away programs or in other departments and programs.
Francophone Studies Major
Nine courses higher than FRS 2204 Intermediate French II, including:
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Required Courses a | ||
FRS 2409 | Spoken Word and Written Text | 1 |
FRS 2410 | Literature, Power, and Resistance | 1 |
Select at least one of the following: | 1 | |
Francophone Cultures | ||
Contemporary France through the Media | ||
Select three courses at the advanced level (3000–3999), at least two of which must be taught in French, and at least two of which must be taken at Bowdoin. | 3 |
a | Or eight courses higher than 2204 for students beginning with 2203 or lower. Equivalent courses from off campus may be substituted for required courses in consultation with a faculty advisor for the major. |
Students who place out of any of the courses listed above must still take at least nine courses in Francophone studies or Romance languages and literatures for the major.
Hispanic Studies Major
Nine courses higher than HISP 2204 Intermediate Spanish II, including:
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Required Courses b | ||
HISP 2305 | Advanced Spanish | 1 |
HISP 2409 | Introduction to Hispanic Studies: Poetry and Theater | 1 |
HISP 2410 | Introduction to Hispanic Studies: Essay and Narrative | 1 |
Select three courses at the advanced level (3000–3999), at least two of which must be taught in Spanish, and at least two of which must be taken at Bowdoin. | 3 |
b | Or eight courses higher than 2204 for students beginning with 2203 or lower. Equivalent courses from off campus may be substituted for required courses in consultation with a faculty advisor for the major. |
Students who place out of any of the courses listed above must still take at least nine courses in Hispanic studies or Romance languages and literatures for the major.
Italian Studies Major
Nine courses higher than ITAL 1101 Elementary Italian I, including:
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
ITAL 1102 | Elementary Italian II | 1 |
or ITAL 1103 | Accelerated Elementary Italian | |
ITAL 2203 | Intermediate Italian I | 1 |
ITAL 2204 | Intermediate Italian II | 1 |
ITAL 2305 | Advanced Italian I | 1 |
ITAL 2408 | Introduction to Contemporary Italy: Dalla Marcia alla Vespa | 1 |
Select two courses taught in English whose focus is on Italian art, culture, cinema, or music d | 2 | |
Select two courses taught in Italian at the advanced level (3000-3999) e | 2 |
d | Such as courses by art history, classics, cinema studies, and music. One course must be taught by a member of the Italian studies faculty. Bowdoin courses taught by faculty other than Italian studies faculty or courses taken abroad require approval from the department to fulfill this requirement. |
e | At least one of which must be taken at Bowdoin (the sole exception to the Italian-language rule are Romance Languages and Literatures seminars taught jointly by department faculty) |
Students who place out of any of the courses listed above must still take at least nine courses in Italian studies, or Romance languages and literatures, or approved courses for the major.
Romance Languages and Literatures Major
Nine courses higher than 2204. Students must fulfill the requirements below from two different areas.
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
Area-Specific Option Requirements c | ||
Francophone studies requirements: | 2 | |
Spoken Word and Written Text | ||
Literature, Power, and Resistance | ||
Hispanic studies requirements: | 2 | |
Introduction to Hispanic Studies: Poetry and Theater | ||
Introduction to Hispanic Studies: Essay and Narrative | ||
Italian studies requirements: | 2 | |
Advanced Italian I | ||
Introduction to Contemporary Italy: Dalla Marcia alla Vespa | ||
For any of the above combinations, three additional courses at the advanced level (3000–3999) are required, at least two of which must be taken at Bowdoin. These courses may be taken in either or both areas of the student’s concentration. | 3 |
c | Or eight courses higher than 2204 for students beginning with 2203 or lower. Equivalent courses from off campus may be substituted for required courses in consultation with a faculty advisor for the major. |
Minors in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
Students may declare a minor in Francophone studies, Hispanic studies, or Italian studies.
Francophone Studies Minor
- at least four Bowdoin courses in Francophone studies numbered higher than 2204
- One must be an advanced course (3000–3999) taught in French.
- Courses taken away do not satisfy the requirements for the minor.
Hispanic Studies Minor
- at least four Bowdoin courses in Hispanic studies numbered higher than 2204
- One must be an advanced course (3000–3999) taught in Spanish.
- Courses taken away do not satisfy the requirements for the minor.
Italian Studies Minor
- at least four Bowdoin courses in Italian studies numbered higher than 2203 taught in Italian
- All minors are required to take one 3000-level course at Bowdoin taught in Italian.
- Up to one 2000-level course taken away in a semester or yearlong program may be applied to the minor, pending departmental approval.
Additional Information and Department Policies
- No fewer than five courses for the majors must be taken at Bowdoin.
- Students must achieve a grade of C- or higher in all courses for the major or minor, including prerequisites.
- Courses that count toward the major or minor must be taken for regular letter grades (not Credit/D/Fail).
- No more than one course for the major may be in independent study. Courses taken in independent study do not fulfill the advanced course (3000–3999) requirement.
- Majors and minors may double-count one course in the target language with another department or program.
Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate
Students who receive a minimum score of four on the French Language and Culture AP exam, or a minimum score of six on the French IB exam, are eligible to receive a general credit toward the degree, not the major/minor, if they complete FRS 2305 Advanced French through Film or higher and earn a minimum grade of B-. Students meeting these criteria do not receive credit if they place into or elect to take a course lower than FRS 2305 Advanced French through Film.
Students who receive a minimum score of four on the Italian Language and Culture AP exam, or a minimum score of six on the Italian IB exam, are eligible to receive a general credit toward the degree, not the major/minor, if they complete ITAL 2305 Advanced Italian I or higher and earn a minimum grade of B-. Students meeting these criteria do not receive credit if they place into or elect to take a course lower than ITAL 2305 Advanced Italian I.
Students who receive a minimum score of four on the Spanish Language AP exam or the Spanish Literature and Culture AP exam, or a minimum score of six on the Spanish IB exam, are eligible to receive a general credit toward the degree, not the major/minor, if they complete HISP 2305 Advanced Spanish: Language, Culture, and Politics or higher and earn a minimum grade of B-. Students meeting these criteria do not receive credit if they place into or elect to take a course lower than HISP 2305 Advanced Spanish: Language, Culture, and Politics.
In order to receive credit for Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate work, students must have their scores officially reported to the Office of the Registrar by the end of their sophomore year at Bowdoin.
Study Away
A period of study in an appropriate country, usually in the junior year, is strongly encouraged. Bowdoin College is affiliated with a wide range of excellent programs abroad, and interested students should seek the advice of a member of the department early in their sophomore year to select a program and to choose courses that complement the offerings at the College. Students who study away for one semester receive a maximum of three credits toward the major. Those who study away for the academic year receive a maximum of four credits toward the major. Courses taken away cannot count toward the Francophone or Hispanic studies minors.
Independent Study
This is an option primarily intended for students who are working on honors projects. It is also available to students who have taken advantage of the regular course offerings and wish to work more closely on a particular topic. Independent study is not an alternative to regular coursework. An application should be made to a member of the department prior to the semester in which the project is to be undertaken and must involve a specific proposal in an area in which the student can already demonstrate knowledge.
Honors in Romance Languages and Literatures
Majors may elect to write an honors project in the department. This involves two semesters of independent study in the senior year and the writing of an honors essay and its defense before a faculty committee. Candidates for departmental honors must have an outstanding record in other courses in the department. Seniors engaging in independent study toward the completion of an honors project must enroll concurrently in another course in the department in the first semester of their senior year.
Placement
Entering first-year and transfer students who plan to take Francophone studies, Hispanic studies, or Italian studies courses must take the appropriate placement test administered online. Students with questions regarding placement or who wish to take the placement test after matriculating should contact a faculty member in the department.
Information for Incoming Students
Francophone Studies
Course placement recommendations are based on information provided by the student and their placement test score. Students should enroll in the recommended course but may move between course levels in the first two weeks of classes in consultation with department faculty, should they feel they have been misplaced.
- We strongly encourage students to begin their French language study at Bowdoin in the fall semester, as most language courses are sequential, and the first course of each sequence is offered in fall semesters only: FRS 1101 Elementary French I, FRS 2203 Intermediate French I, FRS 2305 Advanced French through Film.
- FRS 1101 Elementary French I is open to students with no previous exposure to the language. New students who studied French in high school should have taken the placement exam prior to arriving on campus. However, if a student was unable to do so, they should complete the online test and notify Professor Katherine Dauge-Roth as soon as possible so that the test may be assessed, and the student given an appropriate placement. Native speakers of French should consult with department faculty.
- For students placing directly into a 2000-level class, it is important to know that FRS 2407-2410 are not sequential; students may take them in any order. FRS 2409 Spoken Word and Written Text and FRS 2410 Literature, Power, and Resistance are offered in both fall and spring semesters, while FRS 2407 Francophone Cultures and FRS 2408 Contemporary France through the Media are offered only in spring semesters.
Please see the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate section above for information related to those pre-matriculation exams. For questions about Francophone Studies placements, please contact Professor Katherine Dauge-Roth.
Hispanic Studies
Any student who wishes to take a Spanish course at Bowdoin, has studied Spanish in an academic setting for two or more years, and/or who speaks the language at home, is required to take the Spanish language placement test. However, if a student was unable to take the placement exam prior to arriving on campus, they should complete the online test and notify Professor Nadia Celis as soon as possible so that the test may be assessed, and the student given an appropriate placement. Native speakers of Spanish should consult with department faculty. Students should enroll in the recommended course but may move between course levels during the first two weeks of classes, after consulting with instructors, if they feel they have been misplaced.
- We strongly encourage students to begin their Spanish language study at Bowdoin in the fall semester, as most language courses are sequential.
- HISP 1100 Elementary Spanish is offered every semester and is recommended for any student who wishes to begin the study of Spanish, or who may have taken another romance language in the past or fewer than two years of Spanish in high school. The course meets four times a week with an additional conversation section. Upon successful completion of this course (C-or higher), students may advance to HISP 2203 Intermediate Spanish I.
- HISP 2203 Intermediate Spanish I and HISP 2204 Intermediate Spanish II must be taken in sequential order. The majority of students with more than two years of experience in Spanish begin their studies at this level.
- HISP 2305 Advanced Spanish: Language, Culture, and Politics covers topics in the political and cultural history of the Spanish- speaking world in the twentieth century, together with an advanced grammar review. It is a required course for the major or minor in Hispanic Studies.
- HISP 2409 Introduction to Hispanic Studies: Poetry and Theater and HISP 2410 Introduction to Hispanic Studies: Essay and Narrative are not sequential and may be taken in any order.
Please see the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate section above for information related to those pre-matriculation exams. For questions about Hispanic Studies placement, please contact Professor Nadia Celis.
Italian Studies
Italian students are encouraged to talk with a member of the department, should they have any questions about courses or their placement (see below). New students who studied Italian in high school should have taken the placement exam prior to arriving on campus. However, if a student was unable to do so, they should complete the online test and notify Professor Hanétha Vété-Congolo as soon as possible so that the test may be assessed, and the student given an appropriate placement. Native speakers of Italian should consult with department faculty.
- We strongly encourage students to begin their Italian language study at Bowdoin in the fall semester, as most language courses are sequential, and the first course of each sequence is offered in fall semesters only: ITAL 1101 Elementary Italian I, ITAL 2203 Intermediate Italian I, ITAL 2305 Advanced Italian I.
- ITAL 1101 Elementary Italian I is open to students with no previous exposure to the language.
- ITAL 1103 Accelerated Elementary Italian is offered only in the spring for students who are placed in FRS 2305 Advanced French through Film, HISP 2305 Advanced Spanish: Language, Culture, and Politics, or LATN 2305 or above, or by permission of instructor. ITAL 1103 Accelerated Elementary Italian covers two semesters of Elementary Italian in one semester, but is not twice the contact time or double the credit, just faster paced.
Please see the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate section above for information related to those pre-matriculation exams. For questions about Italian Studies placement, please contact Professor Hanétha Vété-Congolo.
Francophone Studies
FRS 1033 (c) Friendships: from Fiction to Facebook
Friendship is a precious relationship often wrongly regarded as less vital, intense, or transformative than love. It encompasses a wide range of social bonds, from playground companionship and wartime camaraderie to Facebook links. Most friendships have a lasting impact in people’s lives and trajectories. Some are toxic and so passionate that they can become dangerous. Others are fragile, sometimes fake, or easily endangered by selfish motives. Through novels and movies this seminar investigates the ethics, aesthetics, and politics of the liberating and alienating dynamics of friendship within an array of relationships: political, inter-gender, inter-racial, inter-religious and inter-generational friendships, as well as the mentor-disciple dynamic.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.
FRS 1101 (c) Elementary French I
Every Fall. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 18.
A study of the basic forms, structures, and vocabulary in the context of the French-speaking world. Emphasis on the four communicative skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Three class hours per week and one weekly conversation session with teaching assistants, plus regular language laboratory assignments. Primarily open to first- and second-year students.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019.
FRS 1102 (c) Elementary French II
Every Spring. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18.
A study of the basic forms, structures and vocabulary in the context of the French-speaking world. Emphasis on the four communicative skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. A study of the basic forms, structures, and vocabulary in the context of the French-speaking world. Three class hours per week and one weekly conversation session with assistant.
Prerequisites: FRS 1101 or Placement in FRS 1102.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020.
FRS 2203 (c) Intermediate French I
Every Fall. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 18.
Vocabulary development and review of basic grammar, which are integrated into more complex patterns of written and spoken French. Active use of French in class discussions and conversation sessions with French teaching fellows.Three class hours per week and one weekly conversation session.
Prerequisites: FRS 1102 or Placement in FRS 2203 or Placement in FRS 2203/2305.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019.
FRS 2204 (c) Intermediate French II
Every Spring. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18.
Continued development of oral and written skills; course focus shifts from grammar to reading. Short readings form the basis for the expansion of vocabulary and analytical skills. Active use of French in class discussions and conversation sessions with French teaching fellows. Three class hours per week and one weekly conversation session.
Prerequisites: FRS 2203 or Placement in FRS 2204.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020.
FRS 2305 (c, VPA) Advanced French through Film
Every Fall. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 18.
An introduction to film analysis. Conversation and composition based on a variety of contemporary films from French-speaking regions. Grammar review and frequent short papers. Emphasis on student participation including a variety of oral activities. Three hours per week plus regular viewing sessions for films and a weekly conversation session with French teaching fellows.
Prerequisites: FRS 2204 or Placement in FRS 2305 or Placement in FRS 2203/2305 or Placement in FRS 2305/2400 level.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019.
FRS 2387 (c, DPI, IP) Religion, Healing, and Literature in Africa and the African Diaspora
Conducted in English and with all the readings and discussions in English, this course is nonetheless a comparative and multilingual study (English, Spanish, French, Lingala, and Kikongo) of African, African American, Afro-Caribbean, and Afro-Latin American literatures and their intersections with religion. Building on the Gambian historian of religions Lamin Sanneh’s work (Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture) showing that Christianity is a “translated” religion, the course explores, through the theory of critical translation and the radical imagination of Africana indigeneity, how African, African American, Afro-Caribbean, and Afro-Latin American writers (Mudimbe, Oyono, Ndongo-Bidyogo, Vera, Adichie, Condé, Laferrière, Montero, Zapata Olivella, and Walker) use the polyglossial space of the novel to “conjure” up individual, social, and ecological healing, and thus push the boundaries of the conventional understanding of “religion” and of “Christianity." (Same as: AFRS 2387, LACL 2387)
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Spring 2022.
FRS 2407 (c, DPI, IP) Francophone Cultures
An introduction to the cultures of various French-speaking regions outside of France. Examines the history, politics, customs, cinema, and the arts of the Francophone world, principally Africa and the Caribbean. Increases cultural understanding prior to study abroad in French-speaking regions. (Same as: AFRS 2407, LACL 2407)
Prerequisites: FRS 2305 or higher or Placement in FRS 2400 level or Placement in FRS 2305/2400 level.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020.
FRS 2408 (c, DPI, IP) Contemporary France through the Media
Every Spring. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18.
An introduction to contemporary France through newspapers, magazines, television, music, and film. Emphasis is on enhancing communicative proficiency in French and increasing cultural understanding prior to study abroad in France.
Prerequisites: FRS 2305 or higher or Placement in FRS 2400 level or Placement in FRS 2305/2400 level.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020.
FRS 2409 (c, DPI, IP) Spoken Word and Written Text
Every Semester. Fall 2023; Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18.
Examines oral and written traditions of areas where French is spoken in Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and North America from the Middle Ages to 1848. Through interdisciplinary units, students examine key moments in the history of the francophone world, drawing on folktales, epics, poetry, plays, short stories, essays, and novels. Explores questions of identity, race, colonization, and language in historical and ideological context. Taught in French. (Same as: AFRS 2409, LACL 2209)
Prerequisites: FRS 2305 or higher or Placement in FRS 2400 level or Placement in FRS 2305/2400 level.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019.
FRS 2410 (c, DPI, IP) Literature, Power, and Resistance
Every Semester. Fall 2023; Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18.
Examines questions of power and resistance as addressed in the literary production of the French-speaking world from the nineteenth through the twenty-first centuries. Examines how language and literature serve as tools for both oppression and liberation during periods of turmoil: political and social revolutions, colonization and decolonization, the first and second world wars. Authors may include Hugo, Sand, Sartre, Fanon, Senghor, Yacine, Beauvoir, Condé, Césaire, Djebar, Camus, Modiano, Perec, and Piketty. Students gain familiarity with a range of genres and artistic movements and explore the myriad ways that literature and language reinforce boundaries and register dissent. Taught in French.
Prerequisites: FRS 2305 or higher or Placement in FRS 2400 level or Placement in FRS 2305/2400 level.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019.
FRS 3203 (c) Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem: The fait divers in French Literature and Film
Examines the fait divers, a news item recounting an event of a criminal, strange, or licentious nature, as a source for literary and cinematographic production. Traces the development of the popular press and its relationship to the rise of the short story. Explores how literary authors and filmmakers past and present find inspiration in the news and render “true stories” in their artistic work. Readings may include selections from Rosset, J-P. Camus, Le Clézio, Cendrars, Beauvoir, Duras, Genet, Modiano, Bon, newspapers, and tabloids.
Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.
FRS 3204 (c, VPA) French Theater Production
Students read, analyze, and produce scenes from French plays. At the end of the semester, student groups produce, direct, and perform in one-act plays. Authors studied may include Molière, Marivaux, Beckett, Ionesco, Sartre, Camus, Genet, Sarraute, and Anouilh. Conducted in French.
Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023.
FRS 3206 (c) Body Language: Writing the Body in Early Modern France
Non-Standard Rotation. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 16.
Analysis of texts and images from early modern literary, philosophical, medical, ecclesiastical, and artistic sources from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries, as well as of modern film, Web, and textual media, allows students to explore the conflicting roles of early modern bodies through several themes: birth and death, medicine and hygiene, gender and sexuality, social class, race, monstrosity, Catholic and Protestant visions of the body, the royal body, the body politic. Thoughtful comparison and examination of the meanings of the body today encouraged throughout. Conducted in French.
Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2021.
FRS 3207 (c) Love, Letters, and Lies
Non-Standard Rotation. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 16.
A study of memoir novels, epistolary novels (letters), and autobiography. What does writing have to do with love and desire? What is the role of others in the seemingly personal act of “self-expression”? What is the truth value of writing that circulates in the absence of its author? These and other related issues are explored in the works of the most popular writers of eighteenth-century France: Prévost, Graffigny, Laclos, and Rousseau. Conducted in French.
Prerequisites: FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher or FRS 3000 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2020.
FRS 3211 (c) Bringing the Female Maroon to Memory: Female Marronage and Douboutism in French Caribbean Literature
History has retained the names of great male Caribbean heroes and freedom fighters during slavery such as the Haitians, Mackandal or Toussaint Louverture, the Jamaican, Cudjoe or the Cuban Coba. Enslaved Africans who rebelled against oppression and fled from the plantation system are called maroons and their act, marronage. Except for Queen Nanny of the Jamaican Blue Mountains, only male names have been consecrated as maroons. Yet, enslaved women did fight against slavery and practice marronage. Caribbean writers have made a point of bringing to memory forgotten acts of marronage by women during slavery or shortly thereafter. Proposes to examine the fictional treatment French-speaking Caribbean authors grant to African or Afro-descent women who historically rebelled against slavery and colonization. Literary works studied against the backdrop of douboutism, a conceptual framework derived from the common perception about women in the French Caribbeanwhich means strong woman. Authors studied may include Suzanne Dracius (Martinique), Fabienne Kanor (Martinique), André Schwart-Bart (Guadeloupe), Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe), Evelyn Trouillot (Haiti). Conducted in French. (Same as: AFRS 3211, GSWS 3211, LACL 3211)
Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.
FRS 3212 (c) Eyes on the Prize: Promoting French Culture in the Age of the New Millennium
Since the eighteenth century, France has developed a seemingly endless list of literary prizes, the Prix Goncourt being the most famous. There are over 3,000 prizes awarded every year -- being awarded one of these prizes represents an official consecration meant to underline the writer’s unquestionable worth. Who serves on the juries for all of these prizes? Is it really the best works that are acknowledged? In recent years, scandals have erupted with accusations of influence peddling by publishers. What does this teach us about French culture and society? What is the relation between literary prizes and the promotion of French culture more broadly? In the context of globalization, what political statement is being made? What is exactly the type of culture, themes, and discourse promoted via this literature given the new makeup of the French population? Immigration has considerably changed the face of France. How does the culture of literary prizes take this into account? Students read four recent prizewinners. Each of these prizewinners created controversy that directly addresses the questions above. Primary readings include works by: Houellbecq, Le Clezio, Paule Constant, Alain Mabanckou.
Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2021.
FRS 3213 (c) Aesthetics in Africa and Europe
Non-Standard Rotation. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18.
Aesthetics -- the critical reflection on art, taste, and culture; as much as beauty, the set of properties of an object that arouses pleasure--are central to all aspects of society-building and human life and relationships. Examines the notions of aesthetics and beauty, from pre-Colonial to contemporary times in cultures of the African and Western civilizations as expressed in various humanities and social sciences texts, as well as the arts, iconography, and the media. Considers the ways Africans and afro-descendants in the New World responded to the Western notions of aesthetics and beauty. Authors studied may include Anténor Firmin, Jean Price Mars, Senghor, Damas, Césaire, Cheick Anta Diop, Fanon, Glissant, Chamoiseau, Gyekye Kwame, Socrates, Plato, Jean-Baptiste du Bos,Diderot, Le père André, Baumgarten, Kant, Schopenhauer, Hegel, Hugo. (Same as: AFRS 3213, LACL 3213)
Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2019.
FRS 3216 (c) North African Cinema: From Independence to the Arab Spring
Seminar. Provides insight into contemporary film production from the Maghreb (Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco). Explores questions of gender and sexuality, national identity, political conflict, and post- and neo-colonial relationships in the context of globalization and in conditions of political repression and rigid moral conservatism. Examines how filmmakers such as Lakhdar Hamina, Férid Boughedir, Moufida Tlatli, Nedir Moknèche, Malek Bensmaïl, Lyès Salem, Hicham Ayoub, and Leyla Bouzid work in a challenging socio-economic context of film production in consideration of setbacks and obstacles specific to the developing world. Taught in French. (Same as: CINE 3352, MENA 3216)
Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2020.
FRS 3218 (c) Race, Gender, and Science in the Early Modern World
Examines ideas about gender and sexuality and emerging conceptions of race and their relationship to science in early modern France and its North American and Caribbean colonies. Through reading and discussion of literary, testimonial, scientific, artistic, legal, and proto-ethnographic works produced by authors and artists from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries, as well as critical work drawn from several disciplines, students explore how scientific ideas about human difference served to justify mechanisms of inequality, control, and violence that continue to have a devastating legacy today. Emphasis is also placed on analyzing responses and resistances to dominant structures and norms by Native Americans, Sub-Saharan Africans, French women, and gender-nonconforming men. Conducted in French.
Prerequisites: Two of: FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LACL 2209) and FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LACL 2210).
Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.
FRS 3219 (c) French Caribbean Intellectual Thought
An introduction to the main contemporary intellectual production emanating from the French Caribbean such as Haitian indigénisme and Martinican Négritude, Antillanité, and Créolité. Examines theoretical and literary texts by Jean Price-Mars, Jacques Roumain, Frantz Fanon, René Maran, Aimé Césaire, Rene Mesnil, Joseph Zobel, Edouard Glissant, or Patrick Chamoiseau. Addresses questions of collective identity, ethnicity, and cultural autonomy. (Same as: AFRS 3219, LACL 3259)
Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2020.
FRS 3222 (c, IP) Texts Talking Back: French Canada Speaking to Itself and to the World through Literature
Explores the ways in which authors refer to history, geography, and most particularly to other literary texts in order to form a community of voices that constitutes a body of expression unique to Francophone Canada. The literature of French Canada evokes a history of displacements, conflicts, triumphs, oppressions, and liberations that play out in relationship to “others” to whom texts respond. We will read essays, novels, plays, and poems from Francophone Canada and familiarize ourselves with events, texts, and places that will help us deepen our understanding and appreciation of the literary traditions of Canada, with an emphasis on Québécois and Acadian authors. Readings may include texts by Marie-Claire Blais, Roch Carrier, Herménégilde Chiasson, Evelyne de la Chenelière, Madeleine Gagnon, Claude Gauvreau, Anne Hébert, Dany Laferrière, Michèle Lalonde, Robert Lepage, Antonine Maillet, Gaston Miron, Wajdi Mouawad, Émile Nelligan, Gabrielle Roy, and Michel Tremblay.
Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2019.
FRS 3223 (c) Representations of the Algerian War of Independence
Analyzes the depiction of the Algerian War of Independence in Algerian and French novels and films, drawing on trauma, postcolonial and decolonial theories. The Algerian War of Independence lasted nearly eight years (1954–62), cost between one million and one and a half million lives, saw atrocities like the use of torture by the French army and remained an obscure part of the national history of both Algeria and France. Algerian and French writers and filmmakers depict this war differently. Adopting a chronological and comparative approach to the representations of the conflict in Algeria and France, this seminar follows the various phases behind the construction of the collective memory of the Algerian War of Independence in each country. From state censorship, trauma, melancholic renderings of the past and nationalist appropriations of history, Algerian and French writers and filmmakers confront distinct problematics. (Same as: MENA 3223)
Prerequisites: Two of: FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LACL 2209) and FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LACL 2210).
Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.
FRS 3224 (c, DPI, IP) Deaccessioning Empire: African Art, Museums, and Memory
Deaccessioning—the process of removing a work of art from a museum—brings up important issues in the art world: rethinking provenance or ownership, appropriation, the permanence of collections, and memory. Through that lens, this course explores the current/long-standing debates over the restitution of African art work and the decolonization of museums. The class focuses on how museums shape discourse around colonialism and influence the reception and circulation of African cultural productions. Students will study the history of ethnographic collecting practices, colonial exhibitions, the creation of a foreign market for African art in France, and the postcolonial politics of contemporary museums such as the Quai Branly. Students will study literature, film, and art that reimagine the curatorial space. Students will visit museums and meet with private collectors, artists, and curators. Students will become more informed and critical readers of museum spaces. Conducted in French. (Same as: AFRS 3224)
Prerequisites: Two of: FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LACL 2209) and FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LACL 2210).
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.
FRS 3227 (c) Word for Word: Introduction to Literary Translation
Non-Standard Rotation. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 16.
This course focuses on sub-Saharan Francophone African texts and postcolonial translation studies. In this advanced seminar, students read major canonical novels and become familiar with translation theory, while also developing a translation practice. Students analyze fictional representations of translators, study the circulation and reception of translations, and consider the politics of translation for certain case studies. Students evaluate different translations of a text, compose their own translation, and write a critical translator’s preface in which they explain their stylistic choices. Students meet with literary translators, publishers, and writers throughout the semester. (Same as: AFRS 2415)
Prerequisites: Two of: FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LACL 2209) and FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LACL 2210).
FRS 3300 (c, IP) Mediterranean Noir: Identity and Otherness in the Mediterranean
Explores Mediterranean crime fiction or “noir” (novels, short stories, graphic novels, films) whose events describe and question the society in which the crime has taken place and that actively engage with the idea of otherness. The course examines how fiction fosters questions about a paradigm of thinking and solving crimes. Does a different provenance make a difference in how one approaches crime and evil? Writers and filmmakers may include: Jean-Claude Izzo, Costa Gavras, Driss Chraïbi, Camilleri, Massimo Carlotto, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán and Alicia Giménez Bartlett. Conducted in English, with students reading works in the original language or in translation as appropriate. Includes a fourth discussion hour in either French, Italian, or Spanish, with the respective professors to be scheduled following registration. (Same as: ITAL 3300, HISP 3300)
Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or either ITAL 2305 or ITAL 2408 and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or either ITAL 2305 or ITAL 2408.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2020.
Hispanic Studies
HISP 1020 (c) Don Quixote Now
This course provides an introduction to the 1612 novel Don Quixote, the second most translated book after the Bible. Through close-readings of the original text and contemporary adaptations in literature, film and television, students will consider the lasting social and political impacts of Miguel de Cervantes’ novel both in the US, and globally. The course will offer time in special collections to handle, observe and write about early editions. Students will explore books as objects, reading practices, and library cultures.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.
HISP 1100 (c) Elementary Spanish
Every Semester. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 18.
This course offers an introduction to the language and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. Students will learn general forms, structures and vocabulary based on project-based learning where students acquire language through a rich content environment. As an entry-level, this class is designed for students with little or no prior Spanish language experience. Three class hours per week, plus a required weekly conversation session with a Learning Assistant. This course prepares students for HISP 2203 (Intermediate Spanish I).
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021.
HISP 1101 (c) Elementary Spanish I
An introduction to the grammar of Spanish, aimed at comprehension, reading, writing, and simple conversation. Emphasis is on grammar structure, with frequent oral drills. Hispanic Studies 1101 is primarily open to first- and second-year students, with a limited number of spaces available for juniors and seniors who have had less than one year of high school Spanish.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019.
HISP 1103 (c) Accelerated Elementary Spanish
Three class hours per week, plus one hour of weekly drill and conversation sessions with a teaching fellow. Covers in one semester what is covered in two semesters in the Spanish 1101-1102 sequence. Study of the basic forms, structures, and vocabulary. Emphasis on listening comprehension and spoken Spanish. By placement or permission of instructor, for students with an advanced knowledge of a Romance language or who would benefit from a review in the beginner’s stages. Not open to students who have credit in Hispanic Studies 1101 or 1102 (formerly Spanish 1101 or 1102).
Prerequisites: Placement in HISP 1103.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2020.
HISP 1700 (c, VPA) Department Production
Every Semester. Fall 2023; Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 50. Credit/D/F Only.
This course focuses on the creative collaboration that creates a full-length performance project for the public and mirrors a professional theater process. It is led by a professional director either on faculty or visiting as a guest artist. It is produced by department with a generous production budget and supported by a professional stage management mentor, professional designers, and department staff. Performances are open to the Bowdoin and broader Brunswick communities. Areas of concentration may include rehearsal and performance of roles, assistance to the director, dramaturgy, stage management, or assistance to the designers. Students gain admission to THTR 1700 through audition or interview. Areas of concentration are determined by the project’s director and assigned. Rehearsals may fall outside of traditional class hours. May be repeated for credit earning for a maximum of two credits. (Same as: THTR 1700, LACL 1270)
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2019.
HISP 2203 (c) Intermediate Spanish I
Every Semester. Fall 2023; Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18.
This course is designed to develop student’s language skills based on project-based activities as well as acquiring cultural understanding of the diversity in various regions of the Spanish-Speaking world. The course practices specific grammar problems, multi-paragraph writing in Spanish, and discussions on increasingly complex topics through readings, audio and short-subject films, both fiction and non-fiction. Three class hours per week and one weekly conversation session with assistant. This course prepares students for HISP 2204.This course is designed to develop student’s language skills based on project-based activities as well as acquiring cultural understanding of the diversity in various regions of the Spanish-Speaking world. The course practices specific grammar problems, multi-paragraph writing in Spanish, and discussions on increasingly complex topics through readings, audio and short-subject films, both fiction and non-fiction. Three class hours per week and one weekly conversation session with assistant. This course prepares students for HISP 2204.
Prerequisites: HISP 1102 or HISP 1103 or Placement in HISP 2203 or Placement in HISP 2203/2204 or HISP 1100 or Placement in HISP 1100/2203.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019.
HISP 2204 (c) Intermediate Spanish II
Every Semester. Fall 2023; Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18.
This course is designed to develop student’s language skills based on project-based activities as well as acquiring cultural understanding of the diversity in various regions of the Spanish-Speaking world. The course practices specific grammar problems, written compositions and discussions on increasingly complex topics through readings, audio and short-subject films, both fiction and non-fiction. Three class hours per week and one weekly conversation session with assistant. This course prepares students for HISP 2305.
Prerequisites: HISP 2203 or Placement in HISP 2204 or Placement in HISP 2203/2204.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019.
HISP 2305 (c) Advanced Spanish: Language, Culture, and Politics
Every Semester. Fall 2023; Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18.
This course examines the history, politics, and cultures of the Hispanic World, from the 20th century to the present. Key moments include the Mexican Revolution, the Spanish Civil War, the Cuban Revolution, dictatorships in Chile and Argentina, and Latinx movements in the US. Through the study of a wide variety of literary and cultural icons from La Malinche and Octavio Paz, Pedro Almodóvar and Carmen Laforet, to Nancy Morejón, Julio Cortazár and Luís Valdez, students will reflect on individual experiences and collective movements. The course provides students with advanced practice in grammar, reading, speaking, listening, writing and research in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 2205)
Prerequisites: HISP 2204 or Placement in HISP 2305.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019.
HISP 2306 (c, IP) Spanish Non-Fiction Writing Workshop
Designed for heritage speakers (who grew up speaking Spanish in the home), bilinguals, and other Spanish-speaking students. The class will examine nonfictional accounts of current events and issues in the Hispanic world written by leading Spanish and Latin American authors and journalists. Throughout the semester, students will conduct research on a given topic or a particular environment of their choosing, writing their own nonfictional accounts of their research. Students will gain valuable real world experience researching, reporting, and working with speakers of Spanish in Brunswick or the surrounding communities. Through work specifically tailored to individual needs, students will hone their writing skills and build confidence in the language. (Same as: LACL 2306)
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022.
HISP 2308 (c, DPI) Spanish in the Latinx and Diaspora Communities in the U.S.
Non-Standard Rotation. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18.
Designed for students who were exposed to Spanish at home or had extended exposure in a Spanish-speaking community or country. Builds on the linguistic and cultural competence students already have in order to expand their language skills in a wide variety of contexts, with particular emphasis on writing skills in Spanish. Throughout the semester, students will engage in a critical exploration of the (socio)linguistic and cultural diversity of Latinx and diaspora communities in the U.S. by looking at themes such as language and migration, language use and variation in multilingual communities, language and identity, among other topics related to the dynamic situation of Spanish in the U.S. Students will also strengthen their command of specific grammar points and achieve more confidence using Spanish through the implementation of projects in which they deepen their knowledge and understanding of communities while reflecting on their individual experiences.
HISP 2409 (c, IP) Introduction to Hispanic Studies: Poetry and Theater
Every Semester. Fall 2023; Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18.
Examines theatre and poetry in Spain and Latin America from the 11th-century verses of Jewish and Muslim authors to the 20th-century works of Nobel Prize winners. Through class discussions and critical analysis, students will discover how the structure, form, content, and performance of poetry and theater relate to a work’s aesthetic movement, historical context, and contemporary adaptations. Some of the topics for discussion include: religious conflicts and their influence in literary forms; the cultural and political implications of the colonization of the Americas, its legacy, and the resistance to it; the Baroque, its innovative aesthetic techniques, and its transatlantic influence; the mechanisms used by writers to subvert discourses of patriarchy; the importance of indigenous cultures in the development of Latin American nations and cultural traditions; and the political and artistic relationships with the US and other European avant-garde movements. Conducted in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 2409, THTR 2409)
Prerequisites: HISP 2305 (same as LACL 2205) or Placement in HISP 2409 or 2410.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019.
HISP 2410 (c, IP) Introduction to Hispanic Studies: Essay and Narrative
Every Semester. Fall 2023; Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18.
Examines narrative forms and essays in Spain and Latin America from pre-Conquest times until the 20th-century works of Nobel Prize winners. Through class discussions and critical analysis, students will discover how the structure, form, and content of narratives and essays relate to a work’s aesthetic movement, historical context, and contemporary trends in Hispanic cultures. Topics include religious conflicts and their influence in literary forms; the cultural and political implications of the colonization of the Americas, its legacy, and the resistance to it; the aesthetic and social renovation of Early Modern Spain, including the first modern novel, Don Quixote; the mechanisms used by writers to subvert discourses of patriarchy; the importance of indigenous cultures in the development of Latin American nations and cultural traditions; and the political and artistic relationships with the US and other European avant-garde movements. Conducted in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 2410)
Prerequisites: HISP 2305 (same as LACL 2205) or Placement in HISP 2409 or 2410.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019.
HISP 2505 (c) The Making of a Race: Latinx Fictions
Explores the creation, representation, and marketing of US Latinx identities in American literature and popular culture from the 1960s. Focuses on the experience of authors of Caribbean origin (Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican), their negotiations with notions of race, class, gender, and sexuality in Latin America and the US, and their role in cultural translation, the struggle for migrants’ rights, and the definition of “American” citizenship. Course materials include literature, film, tv shows, and articles in the humanities and social sciences. In addition to the themes addressed by individual authors (ranging from border crossing to coming of age in dystopian worlds), discussions engage changing notions of “Latinidad” in the last half century; their historical context; the role of language and the media in their production and contestation; and how artists adapt to and resist the branding of ethnic and racial identities. Authors include Thomas, Stevans, Obejas, Rivera, and Engels. Taught in English. (Same as: LACL 2005)
Previous terms offered: Spring 2020.
HISP 2517 (c) Shifting Forms: The Art of Creative Translation
This course will explore the ways that the translation of a text from one language to another inevitably alters the original—an alteration that can entail loss, but that also opens up new vistas of meaning, and new opportunities for creativity. Students will translate short texts (fiction and poetry) from English to Spanish, Spanish to English, and even within those languages (for instance, translating verse poems to prose). Students will also explore the process of translating the visual into text, adding subtitles to short films and will work with the library’s Department of Special Collections and/or the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. Our work will be supplemented by class visits by accomplished translators, and by the reading of critical essays on the art of translation. This course is taught in English. Students at the 2000-level will engage in work appropriate for an intermediate level of Spanish language proficiency; students enrolling at the 3000-level will conduct work at an advanced level. (Same as: LACL 2217)
Prerequisites: HISP 2203 or HISP 2204 or HISP 2305 (same as LACL 2205).
Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.
HISP 3007 (c, IP) Cultural History of Dictionaries in the Spanish-Speaking World
The course is designed as a cultural history of Spanish language and cultures through its dictionaries, across time periods (early modern to more contemporary) examining questions of power and authority, collection practices, and how dictionaries change over time. The class will approach asymmetrical relationships between Spain and Latin America, Spanish and Spanglish in the US, and the political, social, and commercial value of language in these contexts. Bringing in the vocabularies of indigenous, enslaved Africans and immigrant languages, students will engage in an in-depth exploration of lexicographers including Antonio de Nebrija, Sebastián de Covarrubias, Andres Bello, and Maria Moliner. Key works include: Tesoro de la Lengua Española o Castellana, the Diccionario de Autoridades, the Diccionario de la Lengua Española, the Moliner, Larousse, and Clave. Course is taught in Spanish and will feature opportunities for collaboration with Ilan Stavans (Amherst) and his students on this topic. (Same as: LACL 3307)
Prerequisites: HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410).
Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.
HISP 3114 (c) Fighting Fascism: The Spanish Civil War and Cinema
Non-Standard Rotation. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 16.
Takes the Spanish Civil War as a case to study the way in which war in its many facets has been represented in cinema from the 1930s to the present. Examines how the subject of war is taken up by different genres: newsreel, documentary, adventure, drama, horror, fantasy, and romantic comedy. Analyzes films from Spain alongside examples from the United States, Britain, France, and Mexico, paying special attention to how the political dimensions of the Spanish war, in the international context of the fight against Fascism, are subject to different interpretations of the conflict’s significance for history. Conducted in English. Writing assignments in Spanish.
Prerequisites: HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410).
HISP 3117 (c) Hispanic Cities in Cinema: Utopia, Distopia, and Transnationality
Examines how cinema portrays urban spaces in Latin America, Spain and USA from an aesthetic point of view that facilitates discourses on Hispanic history and identity. It looks at the city (Barcelona, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Habana, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico DF and New York) as a cinematic setting for narratives on crime, immigration, political activity and romance, and how it conveys utopic or distopic views of physical and social urban development. Also considers how cities lend themselves as transnational subjects for directors who cross national boundaries, such as Luis Buñuel, Woody Allen, Pedro Almodóvar and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Conducted in English. Writing assignments in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 3217)
Prerequisites: HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410).
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023.
HISP 3211 (c, DPI, IP) The Modern Worldview of the Andes: Art, Literature, Architecture, and the Environment.
Through the exploration of art, literature, architecture and the unique worldview of the ancestral Andean societies, this course will take a look at the different ways in which the three main countries in the Andes—Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia—have dealt with processes of social, political, and cultural modernization since the late nineteenth century until the present day. Readings will include works by Peruvian, Bolivian, and Ecuadorian writers to examine modernist, avant-garde and postmodernist aesthetics. Students will analyze how internal migration to the cities of Lima, Quito and La Paz has reconfigured them, changed their urban dynamics, and impacted the economy and the natural environment. One example students will engage with includes architecture from iconic Bolivian architect Freddy Mamani ,who invented the construction of the Cholets in the city of El Alto, Bolivia. Cholets offer a unique way of connecting urban space to Aymaran identity (an identity that is very connected to the land in Boliva). Students will also address the issue of migration and the reconfigurations of Andean identities in the United States, through the works of Bolivian author Edmundo Paz Soldán and the Ecuadorian-American writer Ernesto Quiñónez and his experience living in Harlem. Taught in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 3215, URBS 3211)
Prerequisites: HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.
HISP 3218 (c) A Journey around Macondo: Garcia Marquez and His Contemporaries
Studies the main topics, techniques, and contributions of Colombian Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez as presented in “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” Explores the actual locations and the social, cultural, and literary trends that inspired the creation of Macondo, the so-called village of the world where the novel takes place, and the universal themes to which this imaginary town relates. Contemporary authors include Fuenmayor, Rojas Herazo, and Cepeda Samudio . (Same as: LACL 3218)
Prerequisites: HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410).
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2019.
HISP 3219 (c) Letters from the Asylum: Madness and Representation in Latin American Fiction
Explores the concept of madness and the varying ways in which mental illness has been represented in twentieth-century Latin American fiction. Readings include short stories and novels dealing with the issues of schizophrenia, paranoia, and psychotic behavior by authors such as Jorge Luis Borges, Carlos Fuentes, Cristina Rivera Garza, and Horacio Quiroga. . Also studies the ways in which certain authors draw from the language and symptoms of schizophrenia and paranoia in order to construct the narrative structure of their works and in order to enhance their representation of social, political, and historical conjunctures. Authors include César Aira, Roberto Bolaño, Diamela Eltit, and Ricardo Piglia, . (Same as: LACL 3219)
Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023.
HISP 3220 (c, DPI, IP) Medicine, Literature, and Spanish
Non-Standard Rotation. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 08.
This course explores a range of literary and cultural texts related to the theory, practice and experience of medicine, health and healing in the early modern Hispanic world. Students will analyze how early Spanish literature impacts our understanding of contemporary health practices and examine how health histories provide insight into racial and ethnic health disparities and general inequities in health care systems. Topics include drug trials, herbalists and apothecaries; health and spiritual practices; gardens and gardeners; diet and food; healer and patients; and race, ethnicity, gender and medicine. The course provides an introduction to the topics of narrative medicine and the health humanities. Course is taught in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 3220)
Prerequisites: Two of: HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) and HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410).
Previous terms offered: Spring 2021.
HISP 3223 (c) The War of the (Latin American) Worlds
Discusses the historical, social, and political consequences of the clash between tradition and modernity in Latin America during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as seen through novels, short stories, and film. Particular attention will be given to the ways in which the processes of modernization have caused the coexistence of divergent worlds within Latin American countries. Analyzes different social and political reactions to these conflictive realities, focusing on four cases: the Mexican Revolution, the Cuban Revolution, the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in Chile, and Andean insurgencies in Perú. Authors to be read may include Reinaldo Arenas, Roberto Bolaño, Simón Bolívar, Jorge Luis Borges, Cromwell Jara, Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel García Márquez, José Martí, Elena Poniatowska, and Juan Rulfo, among others. (Same as: LACL 3223)
Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2019.
HISP 3225 (c) Self-Figuration and Identity in Contemporary Southern Cone Literature
Non-Standard Rotation. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 16.
Who speaks in a text? What relationship exists between literature and identity? How can we portray ourselves in specific political contexts? Addresses these and other questions by studying contemporary Southern Cone literary texts that deal with problems of subjectivity and self- representation in poetry and novels. Concentrates on texts that display a literary “persona” in contexts of violence and resistance (the dictatorships of the 1970s) and in more contemporary Latin American ones. Some authors include Borges, Gelman, and Peri-Rossi. Films and contextual historical readings used. Taught in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 3225)
Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409 and THTR 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409 and THTR 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2021.
HISP 3226 (c) A Body “Of One’s Own”: Caribbean and Latinx Women Writers
What kind of stories do bodies tell or conceal? How does living in a gendered and racialized body effects the stories told by women? How do bodies and their stories converge with History or complicate historical “truths”? These are some of the questions addressed in this study of contemporary writing by women from the Hispanic Caribbean and the United States Latinx/Chicana communities. Feminists of color frame the analysis of literature, popular culture and film to guide an examination of the relation of bodies and sexuality to social power, and the role of this relation in the shaping of both personal and national identities. Theorists include Alexander, Barriteau, Curiel, Mendez and Segato. Novelists include Álvarez, Buitrago, García, Indiana Hernández, and Santos-Febres. Taught in Spanish with readings in Spanish and English. (Same as: AFRS 3226, GSWS 3226, LACL 3226)
Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2020.
HISP 3227 (c, IP) The Hispanic Avant-Garde: Poetry and Politics
Questions what is meant by "avant-garde": how it was manifested in the Hispanic world in the first half of the twentieth century; how contemporaneous politics shaped or became shaped by it; how this relates to the world today. Focuses on poets such as Aleixandre, Garcia Lorca, Borges, Neruda, Huidobro, Storni, Lange, Novo, and Vallejo, while also considering a wide array of manifestos, literary journals, films, and other art forms from Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Mexico, and Brazil. Taught in Spanish with some theoretical and historical readings in English. (Same as: LACL 3227)
Prerequisites: Two of: HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) and HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410).
Previous terms offered: Fall 2020.
HISP 3231 (c, DPI, IP) Sor Juana and María de Zayas: Early Modern Feminisms
Did feminism exist in the early modern period? Examines key women authors from the early Hispanic World, considering the representation of gender, sexuality, race, and identity in distinct political and social contexts. Focuses on Mexican author Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651-1695) and Spanish author María de Zayas (1590-1661), alongside other prominent women writers from the period. Students read short stories, essays, poems, and personal letters. Conducted in Spanish. (Same as: GSWS 3231, LACL 3231)
Prerequisites: HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409 and THTR 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410).
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.
HISP 3234 (c, DPI) Ghosts in Mexican Literature: Analyzing History and Politics
Non-Standard Rotation. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 16.
Why does Mexican literature have so many ghosts as characters? What distinguishes the representation of ghosts in Mexican literature from their representation in American gothic literature? In this seminar we will read contemporary Mexican literature through the figure of the ghost. I argue that the ghost in Mexican literature allows us to think and analyze a variety of topics such as immigration (US-Mexico), exile, politics, trauma, race and environment. Readings may include works by Rulfo, Fuentes, Tario, Nettel, Luiselli, Mendoza, Herrera, and Bicecci. The course is conducted in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 3234)
Prerequisites: HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409 and THTR 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410).
HISP 3237 (c) Hispanic Short Story
An investigation of the short story as a literary genre, beginning in the nineteenth century, involving discussion of its aesthetics, as well as its political, social, and cultural ramifications in the Spanish-speaking world. Authors include Pardo Bazán, Borges, Cortázar, Echevarría, Ferré, García Márquez, and others. (Same as: LACL 3237)
Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2019.
HISP 3239 (c) Borges and the Borgesian
An examination of the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges’s work, focusing not only on his short stories, poems, essays, film scripts, interviews, and cinematic adaptations, but also on the writers who had a particular influence on his work. Also studies Latin American, European, and United States writers who were later influenced by the Argentinian master. An organizing concept is Borges’s idea that a writer creates his own precursors. (Same as: LACL 3239)
Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2022, Spring 2020.
HISP 3244 (c) Romantic Spain
Explores the production of Romantic images of Spain and their lasting influence on literature from the nineteenth century to the present. Works by Spanish Romantics (de Castro, Becquer, Espronceda, Zorrilla) and those by others, mostly writing in English, for whom Spain is a romanticized backdrop (Byron, Dos Passos, Hemingway, Irving, Longfellow), are examined in light of the aesthetic and cultural foundations of the movement in Europe (historical hindsight, the political dissent, finding national identity). Also discussed are the resulting Romantic archetypes (Don Juan, Carmen, bandits and bulls) and the way in which these arise and evolve through interaction and contact. Readings in English and Spanish, discussions and required writing in Spanish.
Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2021.
HISP 3249 (c, IP) The Southern Cone Revisited: Contemporary Challenges
How do artists distinguish their contemporary moment from the past? What challenges does it pose to literature and film? Building on ideas by Agamben, Benjamin, and Didi-Huberman, explores these questions in the context of contemporary Argentinean, Chilean, and Uruguayan poetry, short stories, novels, and films. Topics include post-dictatorship societies, text/image dynamics, new forms of subjectivity, human/post-human interactions, and economic and bio-political violence, as seen in works by Sergio Chejfec, Cristina Peri Rossi, Nadia Prado, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, Pedro Lemebel, Fernanda Trías, and others. Taught in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 3250)
Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.
HISP 3253 (c, IP) The Legacy of Propaganda: Memory and Monuments in Spain from the Middle Ages to the Present
Who determines the importance of a legacy? The desire to be remembered—and to control how others perceive those memories—has motivated conflicts throughout history. In medieval Spain, tensions flared between Muslims, Jews, and Christians and between political rivals who vied for the same positions of power. Members of these diverse groups created written works and architectural monuments to both celebrate their own achievements and belittle their enemies. This course invites you to examine these competing memorials as religious and political propaganda and to analyze their legacy in twentieth- and twenty-first-century Spain from interdisciplinary perspectives. Students will consider texts and visual sources as the basis for class discussion and individual reflection and will also develop arguments and critical analysis related to the topics of propaganda, memory, and religious and political conflicts. Class and all assignments will be conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2020.
HISP 3254 (c, IP) Illegible Subjectivities?:Language, Identity and Politics in Contemporary Latin American Poetry
Is poetic form political? How is subjectivity displayed in literary works that do not include narrations or “coherent” autobiographical plots? What connection does a museum of natural history have with poetry? How can language resist violence? This course explores these and other questions by studying different ways in which the relationship among subjectivity, language and politics has been rethought in contemporary Latin American poetry. We will address questions regarding self-figuration and the construction of a poetic persona through topics such as: biopolitical crisis; intersections of different genres and mediums (i.e., text/image relationships); post-human subjectivities; family genealogies; and writings about disease and death. Although we will read mainly poetry, the course will also include some fiction and films, as well as several theoretical readings. Some of the authors that we will read include Kamenszain, Gelman, Berenguer, Montalbetti, Watanabe, Lihn, and Prado. Taught in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 3254)
Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2020.
HISP 3255 (c, IP) Networks of Power in Medieval Spain and the Early Modern Spanish Empire
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the monarchs of Spain ruled an empire whose vast size and scope of power prompted the Spanish king and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to remark that the sun never set on his realm. However, the same period that gave rise to such a far-reaching empire witnessed the marginalization of groups based on their religious, social, and cultural differences in both Spain and its colonies in the Americas. This course invites you to consider the dichotomy between power and exclusion in the textual and cultural production of 15th-, 16th-, and 17th-century Spain and its imperial colonies. You will use the concept and theory of networks to develop critical analysis of works that represented individuals and groups who were considered outsiders. You will also examine the enduring legacy of their literary and social contributions. Class and all assignments will be conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2020.
HISP 3257 (c, IP) A New Boom? Latin American 21st Century Women Writers
Non-Standard Rotation. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 16.
The 1960’s Latin American Boom changed world literature, opening global book markets to writers of the postcolonial world and their distinctive styles. Yet it centered on male writers. “A New Boom?” explores the conditions favoring the last decade’s apparent “explosion” of Latin American women writers in world literature. Discussions focus on key authors and the context of their works, their themes, and aesthetic innovations, and the market forces affecting the dissemination of women’s cultural production. Topics include the ambitions of 21st-Century women in Latin American cities, and the obstacles they face (i.e., violence and marginalization); the role of editors and other stakeholders in featuring women’s voices; the place of readers in advancing new tastes and sensitivities; and the intersection of gender with race, ethnicity, sexuality, education, and other factors fostering the inclusion of some writers over others. Readings include Melchor, Ojeda, Quintana, Reyes, and Shweblin. Course will be taught in Spanish.
HISP 3300 (c, IP) Mediterranean Noir: Identity and Otherness in the Mediterranean
Explores Mediterranean crime fiction or “noir” (novels, short stories, graphic novels, films) whose events describe and question the society in which the crime has taken place and that actively engage with the idea of otherness. The course examines how fiction fosters questions about a paradigm of thinking and solving crimes. Does a different provenance make a difference in how one approaches crime and evil? Writers and filmmakers may include: Jean-Claude Izzo, Costa Gavras, Driss Chraïbi, Camilleri, Massimo Carlotto, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán and Alicia Giménez Bartlett. Conducted in English, with students reading works in the original language or in translation as appropriate. Includes a fourth discussion hour in either French, Italian, or Spanish, with the respective professors to be scheduled following registration. (Same as: ITAL 3300, FRS 3300)
Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or either ITAL 2305 or ITAL 2408 and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or either ITAL 2305 or ITAL 2408.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2020.
HISP 3517 (c) Shifting Forms: The Art of Creative Translation
This course will explore the ways that the translation of a text from one language to another inevitably alters the original—an alteration that can entail loss, but that also opens up new vistas of meaning, and new opportunities for creativity. Students will translate short texts (fiction and poetry) from English to Spanish, Spanish to English, and even within those languages (for instance, translating verse poems to prose). Students will also explore the process of translating the visual into text, adding subtitles to short films and will work with the library’s Department of Special Collections and/or the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. Our work will be supplemented by class visits by accomplished translators, and by the reading of critical essays on the art of translation. This course is taught in English. Students at the 2000-level will engage in work appropriate for an intermediate level of Spanish language proficiency; students enrolling at the 3000-level will conduct work at an advanced level.
Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.
Italian Studies
ITAL 1101 (c) Elementary Italian I
Every Fall. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 18.
This course is an introduction to the Italian language through the context of Italian geography and society. Students master basic grammar constructions and vocabulary and communicate about their lives, Italy, and the world. Students access numerous forms of media from literature to news feeds, music, visual art, film, and television. Three class hours per week and weekly conversation session in small groups with teaching assistants. Offered every fall.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019.
ITAL 1102 (c) Elementary Italian II
Every Spring. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18.
This course is a continuation of Italian Studies 1101. Students expand their listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills through more complex language structures and vocabulary. Students continue to access an expanded range of media from literature to news feeds, music, visual art, film, and television. Three class hours per week and weekly conversation session in small groups with teaching assistants. Offered every spring.
Prerequisites: ITAL 1101 or Placement in ITAL 1102.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020.
ITAL 1103 (c) Accelerated Elementary Italian
Every Spring. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 16.
Puts students’ existing knowledge of a Romance language to good use in an accelerated approach to Italian, covering in just one semester what is typically covered in the two-semester 1101-1102 sequence. Authentic materials and audiovisual resources such as music, films, television series, and news articles immerse students in contemporary Italian culture and society. Prior experience with the principal grammatical elements of French, Spanish, or another Romance language allows students to move quickly through the study of present, future, and past tenses and other key aspects of basic Italian. Three class hours per week and weekly conversation session in small groups with the Italian teaching fellow. Offered every spring.
Prerequisites: Placement in HISP 2305 or Placement in ITAL 1103 or Placement in FRS 2203/2305 or Placement in FRS 2305/2400 level or Placement in FRS 2400 level or Placement in HISP 2409 or 2410 or FREN 2305 or higher or SPAN 2305 (same as LAS 2205) or higher or FRS 2305 or higher or HISP 2305 (same as LACL 2205) or higher.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020.
ITAL 2100 (c, IP) Digital Florence
Asks what a digital representation of a city could and should be, particularly in a moment when travel is limited, using Florence, Italy as a case study. Examines digital image, text, and spatial data about the city, juxtaposing it against non-digital primary sources, secondary critical readings, reflections on experiences of urban and other spaces, and data that we will create in class. Emphasizes shifting definitions across time, language, and digital artifacts of what and who is Florentine in these representations. Coursework happens in three phases: going “under the hood” of the popular digital artifacts that provide an experience of Florence in order to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of representation; expanding our definition of Digital Florence to find local perspectives on what the essential features of the city could be; and proposing a digital intervention that better reflects the values we have identified throughout the semester. Assumes no programming knowledge. Taught in English. (Same as: DCS 2100, URBS 2100)
Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.
ITAL 2203 (c) Intermediate Italian I
Every Fall. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 18.
The intermediate sequence develops communicative proficiency of Italian language and culture by improving upon the skills of speaking, listening, reading, writing, and cultural competency. Building on existing skills in Italian, it introduces students to new and more complex grammar and communicative structures. Students continue to study Italian culture, geography, and literature and explore crosscultural similarities and differences between Italy and the United States using a variety of digital, literary, and visual texts. The goal of third-semester Italian is to further improve students’ ability to speak and understand Italian, to become familiar with the use of different tenses and moods (compound tenses, imperative, conditional, subjunctive), to increase their writing skills as they begin to read different kinds of texts, from informal to literary. Three class hours per week and a weekly conversation session with the Italian teaching fellow. Offered every Fall.
Prerequisites: ITAL 1102 or ITAL 1103 or Placement in ITAL 2203.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019.
ITAL 2204 (c) Intermediate Italian II
Every Spring. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18.
The intermediate sequence develops communicative proficiency of Italian language and culture by improving upon the skills of speaking, listening, reading, writing, and cultural competency. Building on existing skills in Italian, it introduces students to new and more complex grammar and communicative structures. Students continue to study Italian culture, geography, and literature and explore crosscultural similarities and differences between Italy and the United States using a variety of digital, literary, and visual texts. While speaking and listening with an emphasis on interpretational and presentational tasks continue as the center of class activity, the goal of fourth-semester Italian is to focus more intensively on reading and writing Italian. Basic literary analysis and vocabulary building are developed using the selected readings. Three class hours per week and a weekly conversation session with the Italian teaching fellow. Offered every Spring.
Prerequisites: ITAL 2203 or Placement in ITAL 2204.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020.
ITAL 2222 (c) Dante's Divine Comedy
One of the greatest works of literature of all times. Dante’s Divine Comedy leads us through the torture-pits of Hell, up the steep mountain of Purgatory, to the virtual, white-on-white zone of Paradise, and then back to where we began: our own earthly lives. Accompanies Dante on his allegorical journey, armed with knowledge of Italian culture, philosophy, politics, religion, and history. Pieces together a mosaic of medieval Italy, while developing and refining abilities to read, analyze, interpret, discuss, and write about both literary texts and critical essays. Conducted in English.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2021.
ITAL 2305 (c) Advanced Italian I
Every Fall. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 18.
This course guides students to increasing their fluency in reading, writing, and speaking through engaging various genres of Italian cultural production, contemporary Italian life, and current events. Students deepen their knowledge and practice of critical textual analysis through the study of various media (short stories, poetry, journalism, a novel, an opera libretto, a work of theater, and film), continue to solidify their mastery of Italian grammar, and augment their reading and speaking vocabulary. Regular in-class presentations and essays serve to help students express themselves with more complex and authentic spoken and written style. Conducted in Italian.
Prerequisites: ITAL 2204 or Placement in ITAL 2305.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019.
ITAL 2408 (c, IP) Introduction to Contemporary Italy: Dalla Marcia alla Vespa
Every Spring. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18.
In the recent past, Italy has experienced violent political, economic, and cultural changes. In short succession, it experienced fascist dictatorship, the Second World War, the Holocaust, and Civil War, a passage from monarchy to republic, a transformation from a peasant existence to an industrialized society, giving rise to a revolution in cinema, fashion, and transportation. How did all this happen? Who were the people behind these events? What effect did they have on everyday life? Answers these questions, exploring the history and the culture of Italy from fascism to contemporary Italy, passing through the economic boom, the Years of Lead, and the mafia. Students have the opportunity to relive the events of the twentieth century, assuming the identity of real-life men and women. Along with historical and cultural information, students read newspaper articles, letters, excerpts from novels and short stories from authors such as Calvino, Levi, Ginzburg, and others, and see films by directors like Scola, Taviani, De Sica, and Giordana.
Prerequisites: ITAL 2305 or Placement in ITAL 2400 level.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020.
ITAL 2500 (c, IP) World Science Fiction
Explores the local, global, and universal natures of the speculative genre of science fiction (SF) from the early twentieth century through the present. Highlights works from the Golden Age (late 1930s–1950s), the New Wave of the 1960s and 1970s, cyberpunk in the 1980s, and today’s various subgenres and cross-over incarnations. Approaches SF as a mode of thought-experimentation and world-building that problematizes actual and possible political, cultural, natural, human, and techno-scientific realities. Among the themes included are the human-machine interface, environmental apocalypse, the alien, and time travel. Readings include short stories from nearly every continent (a number of which are accompanied by a film or other media), scholarly writing on SF, and contemporary debates in and around SF. Does not count for the Italian minor or Romance languages and literatures major. Taught in English.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2022, Spring 2020.
ITAL 2553 (c, VPA) Italy's Cinema of Social Engagement
An introduction to Italian cinema with an emphasis on Neorealism and its relationship to other genres, including Comedy Italian Style, the Spaghetti Western, the horror film, the "mondo" (shock documentary), and mafia movies, among others. Readings and discussions situate films within their social and historical contexts, and explore contemporary critical debates about the place of radical politics in Italian cinema (a hallmark of Neorealism), the division between art films and popular cinema, and the relevance of the concept of an Italian national cinema in an increasingly globalized world. No prerequisite required. Taught in English (films screened in Italian with English subtitles). Note: Fulfills the non-US cinema requirement for cinema studies minors. (Same as: CINE 2553)
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023.
ITAL 3008 (c) Of Gods, Leopards, and 'Picciotti': Literary Representations of Sicily between Reality and Metaphor
In their attempt to write Sicily, nineteenth- and twentieth-century Sicilian authors have had to come to terms with a land rife with contradictions that have often been considered a reality unto themselves. Since ancient times, Sicily has been a crossroads of cultures and civilizations whose influence has created a Babel of languages, customs, and ideas that separates it from, while uniting it to, the mainland. Examines the construction of the idea of Sicily and sicilianità in the writing of twentieth-century natives like Luigi Pirandello, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Vitaliano Brancati, Leonardo Sciascia, Vincenzo Consolo, and Andrea Camilleri. Emphasis placed on a critical analysis of attempts to define the essence of the Sicilian character within the social and historical context of post-Unification Italy.
Prerequisites: ITAL 2408.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.
ITAL 3009 (c, IP) Introduction to the Study and Criticism of Medieval and Early Modern Italian Literature
An introduction to the literary tradition of Italy from the Middle Ages through the early Baroque period. Focus on major authors and literary movements in their historical and cultural contexts. Conducted in Italian.
Prerequisites: ITAL 2408.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2020.
ITAL 3010 (c) Women of Invention: Contemporary Women's Writing in Italian
Non-Standard Rotation. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 16.
Focuses on the development of narrative and theatrical prose written by women in Italy over the course of the twentieth century and on the cultural and social issues raised by their narratives in the context of the dramatic changes that the country was undergoing. These works lead progressively through an examination of Italy at the turn of the last century, of the image of the ideal female created during the fascist era, of the condition of women in postwar Italy, of the dramatic impact that the feminist movement had on women writing in the 1960s and 1970s and, finally, of the experimentation in theme, style, and technique that has marked the most recent generation of women writers. Students are encouraged to reflect on the relationship between literature written by women and the social and cultural context in which it is produced. Readings include novels and short stories by, among others, Sibilla Aleramo, Natalia Ginzburg, Alba De Cespedes, Dacia Maraini, and Grazia Verasani, and the theater of Franca Rame. Conducted in Italian.
Prerequisites: ITAL 2408.
ITAL 3012 (c, IP) Informatica Umanistica and Digital Humanities
This course asks how different computational text analysis can be in two cultural environments: the digital humanities as practiced in the US and informatica umanistica in Italy. Our case study for texts to study will be Italian epic poetry of the Renaissance, the equivalent of today’s Marvel comic universe in terms of range of characters, complexity of plotlines, action sequences, humor, popularity, and fan-fiction spinoffs. We will draw on the multiple language backgrounds of all students in the course and the combined skills of advanced students in DCS and Italian. We will practice collaborative, iterative research development around the geographies, networks, and textual features of our texts. Activities will include discussion, hands-on use of digital tools, assigned readings, and a culminating project. (Same as: DCS 3012)
Prerequisites: DCS 2335 or DCS 2350 (same as CSCI 2350) or DCS 2470 or DCS 2500 or ITAL 2408.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023.
ITAL 3013 (c, IP, VPA) Media Made in Italy, But Not Necessarily for Italians
Non-Standard Rotation. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 16.
Examines the aesthetic and narrative qualities of recent Italian television in the globalized context of the streaming era. Focuses in particular on the role of cultural specificity, or "italianità", in Italian-language media intended for the international market. Explores developments in the transnational circulation of Italian television series in relation to streaming technology, platforms, economics, and media policies in Italy and abroad. Analyzes contemporary series like Gomorrah, Luna Nera, My Brilliant Friend, and Mare Fuori as well as their popularity with global audiences. Coursework includes the creation of an analytical or creative video essay in addition to traditional written research. Previous experience with video editing software like Premiere or Final Cut Pro is beneficial, but not required. Note: Students taking the course to fulfill a 3000-level course requirement for the Italian Studies or Romance Languages and Literatures major or the minor in Italian Studies will view media and submit written and videographic assignments in Italian, meeting regularly with instructor and/or Italian teaching fellow to support continuing development of Italian-language skills. Course may be counted toward the non-US cinema requirement for the Cinema Studies minor. Language of instruction is English.
ITAL 3016 (c) Red, White, Green, and...Noir: Reading Italy through Crime Fiction
Examines the genre of the Italian Giallo and its importance in contemporary Italian fiction. Considers critical approaches to the genre and addresses specific theoretical and cultural issues in the context of modern Italy, with specific focus on the cultural/geographic context that so thoroughly informs the Giallo. Examines the style and the formal and thematic choices of authors such as Sciascia, Scerbanenco, Macchiavelli, Lucarelli, Carlotto, and Camilleri.
Prerequisites: ITAL 2408.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.
ITAL 3020 (c, IP) Dante's "Commedia"
One of the greatest works of literature of all times. Dante’s “Divine Comedy” leads the reader through the torture-pits of hell, up the steep mountain of purgatory, to the virtual, white-on-white zone of paradise, and then back to where we began: our own earthly lives. Accompanies Dante on his allegorical journey, armed with knowledge of Italian culture, philosophy, politics, religion, and history. Pieces together a mosaic of medieval Italy, while developing and refining abilities to read, analyze, interpret, discuss, and write about both literary texts and critical essays. Conducted in Italian.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2019.
ITAL 3040 (c) Black Italia, or the Renegotiation of Italianness
This course explores issues of race, identity, and citizenship in colonial and postcolonial Italy and, through the analysis of the cultural production of migrant authors (novels, short stories, graphic novels, films) examines and challenges the multiple ways in which the idea of race and racism have contributed to a persistently white and culturally and religiously homogeneous definition of the Italian nation in the twentieth century. Does the juxtaposition of terms such as “Black” and “Italian” constitute an oxymoron? Do these works succeed in conjuring up plural identities within the Italian national space, the way in which postcolonial writers have done in other countries?
Prerequisites: ITAL 2408.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2021.
ITAL 3077 (c, IP, VPA) Divas, Stardom, and Celebrity in Modern Italy
Examines Italy’s role in the evolution of the modern-day diva, star, and celebrity: from the transformation of religious icons such as the Madonna and the Magdalene into the divas, vamps, and femme fatales of early cinema to the development of silent cinema’s strongman into a model for charismatic politicians like Fascist leader Benito Mussolini and media-mogul-turned-prime-minister Silvio Berlusconi. Pays special attention to tensions between Italy’s association with cinematic realism and its growing celebrity culture in the second half of the twentieth century through today. Texts may include Cabiria, La Dolce Vita, A Fistful of Dollars, A Special Day, and The Young Pope, along with readings on key topics in star studies, such as silent stardom; stardom and genre; transnational stardom; and race, sex, and stardom. Students make use of bibliographic and archival sources to conduct independent research culminating in term papers and audiovisual essays. Note: fulfills the non-US cinema and theory requirements for Cinema Studies minors. Taught in English. (Same as: CINE 3077)
Previous terms offered: Spring 2020.
ITAL 3300 (c, IP) Mediterranean Noir: Identity and Otherness in the Mediterranean
Explores Mediterranean crime fiction or “noir” (novels, short stories, graphic novels, films) whose events describe and question the society in which the crime has taken place and that actively engage with the idea of otherness. The course examines how fiction fosters questions about a paradigm of thinking and solving crimes. Does a different provenance make a difference in how one approaches crime and evil? Writers and filmmakers may include: Jean-Claude Izzo, Costa Gavras, Driss Chraïbi, Camilleri, Massimo Carlotto, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán and Alicia Giménez Bartlett. Conducted in English, with students reading works in the original language or in translation as appropriate. Includes a fourth discussion hour in either French, Italian, or Spanish, with the respective professors to be scheduled following registration. (Same as: FRS 3300, HISP 3300)
Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or either ITAL 2305 or ITAL 2408 and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or either ITAL 2305 or ITAL 2408.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2020.
ITAL 3333 (c, IP) Dante's Purgatory
While the concept of purgatory for the departed has long been part of many cultures' beliefs, it was Dante who offered Western thought one of the most detailed architectures of this transitional space to date. The second book in the Divine Comedy trilogy, the Purgatorio is Dante's most relatable of the three otherworldly realms. For one, purgatory is not eternal. It is also a highly organized system, explores a kind of justice that seems more fair than eternal punishment, and it offers something the two other realms do not: hope. In reading the Purgatorio closely, students will explore European medieval theories of divine justice, human justice, penance, piety, and morality—many of which still inform our European-derived thinking today about right action and the common good. Students will refine their ability to analyze poetic language and form, rhetoric, and allegory, to read commentaries and critical studies on the Purgatorio, and sharpen their analytical writing. Taught in Italian. All coursework in Italian.
Prerequisites: ITAL 2408.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.